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The Party of "No"

Technorati and Me

Technorati is indexing me again! They had to make a code change to fix
the problem with my blog getting stuck in their queue. Kudos to Eric M.
and the guys at
GetSatisfaction.com
where they have "community powered support for Technorati".

Well, they're "sorta, kinda" indexing me anyway. It's on a 24 hour tape
delay or something. So I never get picked up by Memeorandum because they
pull from Technorati and Technorati has stuff I posted yesterday
listed as my latest blog entry. And that's old news to Memeorandum.

Wankers.

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How desperate is hurricane-ravaged New Jersey? Not desperate enough to suspend
a union monopoly that keeps the state in the bottom ten states for economic
competitiveness (and #48 for business friendliness). Relief crews from Alabama
who were specifically called to New Jersey found themselves diverted to Long
Island, NY after they arrived because they use non-union labor. Alabama is a
right-to-work state.

Crews from Decatur Utilities and Joe Wheeler out of Trinity headed up there
this week, but Derrick Moore, one of the Decatur workers, said they were told
by crews in New Jersey that they can't do any work there since they're not
union employees.

The crews that are in Roanoke, Virginia say they are just watching and waiting
even though they originally received a call asking for help from Seaside
Heights, New Jersey.

The crews were told to stand down. In fact, Moore said the crew from Trinity
is already headed back home.

Understandably, Moore said they're frustrated being told "thanks, but no
thanks."

I have a friend who saw some Alabama utility trucks caravaning up the Turnpike.
He was excited — "Wow, guys are coming here from Alabama? Cool!"

Now those same guys are headed home.

And the unionistas are unapologetic too. Here's a
comment thread from NJ.com:

Let anyone work on the power lines is crazy. Union trained linemen know what
they are doing and had to prove it and continue to with union rules....non-union
guys from Bama... well who knows?

Unions have no better training than anyone else, perhaps even less as
promotions in unions are based solely on longevity and not skill.

Have you ever wored with non-union lineman? I have and no, they are not as
well trained and have not done the train ing that IBEW lineman do. There is
no way that I would do storm work with someone who has not even been train
and too stupid to know it is better to be a union lineman. It is far too
dangerous.

We have very reliable electric lighting here in Alabama. We also go through a
major storm (Cat 3,4,5) every eight or ten years with little ones (like Cat 1
Sandy) about every other year. After Katrina, we had power back in less than
four days. We have the crews. You have the unions. Enjoy the dark.

As an Alabamian, I find myself very nearly stunned. We here have been praying
for you since long before Sandy made landfall. We know that this is not
something y'all commonly experience, so we knew that this would be particularly
hard on you--that you would make serious errors out of inexperience. But this?
This is beyond bizarre. As far as I am concerned, we're done. We sent help.
You turned it away. When you freeze in the dark, it is on you and your Union
Thug Commissars. I am flabbergasted.

Please do not assume this is how the people of NJ feel. Unions have bankrupted
this state and the hard working residents are sick of their nonsense. They are
a constant embarrassment to us.

I am deeply appreciative of your states crews and wish I could get them to my
area.

The best of luck and many blessings to you. I was Posted at Fort Monmouth for
a while and learned to love the Pine Barrens of Fort Dix (though not the ticks).
I also went through Phase II survival training with a fellow from Bayonne.
Great guy though y'all DO talk funny. Smile

Officials from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers presented
Alabama-based Decatur Utilities with documents that "required our folks to
affiliate with the union," Ray Hardin, general manager of Decatur, told FOX
Business on Friday. "That was something that we could not agree to. It was our
understanding and still is that it was a requirement for us to work in that
area."

Hey fellas, come to Caldwell, get my lights on. I'll buy dinner. And beer.
'Cause your new friends in the IBEW are all down in Newark, making sure
Obama's core constituency is squared away before election day. Out here
in the suburbs PSE&G doesn't care about us.